This Article is not about Corona

By Lightness Mtaita ~ Senior Project Coordinator at Empower on 28 Apr 2020Personal Journey

I for one am almost exasperated when I see news and information about Corona, I understand that we must be well informed, but I feel like it is now turning into noise, with some taking advantage of this time to showcase unnecessary and fake news. Like a billboard displaying too much information, or driving through a highway with billboards mounted after every 50 cm; it is overwhelming. I would not be surprised if some stopped reading this article the minute they saw the word Corona in it, I understand.

This article is not about Corona, it is not about how many people this virus has killed, or how much our lives have changed because of it. It most certainly is not about the number of people who have lost their jobs, and the people who do not know where their next meal will come from. It is not about our children missing out on physical connection with their teachers and fellow students. It is not about the hit the economy is taking, or the unbelievable pressure our nation and company leaders must feel with having to decide the next steps to ensure their countries & companies survive this time. 

For those who speak fluent sarcasm, the paragraph above is not sarcasm, it is me saying that I understand what we have lost from the spread of this virus, and I would like us to take a moment and look through this time instead of at it.

Let us look at this situation with the eyes of a child. 

I spend more time with my parents than I ever would, if I were going to a brick and mortar school, as they must take part in home schooling me. I get to speak to only the kids that I want to speak to, I get a break from the pressures of being a young woman, or man at school. I have learnt self-prioritization and planning, as I should decide when I will do my homework and finish it in time for the deadline, and watch TV of course. When I go back to school, I will be more responsible.

How about the stay at home mom/housewife who is thrilled to have company in the home, but also, happy that her husband can get a taste of what it is like staying home all day, and what it takes to make a house into a home every day. Empathy. The struggling ICT entrepreneur, who have been trying to tell us since time immemorial that there could be a better way of working, and now they have an audience. Opportunity.  The country and company leaders who would otherwise not be in communication about anything, have decided to join heads and help each other. Collaboration. I dare say that now as a people we have more responsibility, empathy, opportunity and collaboration.

However, if we are being honest, we would rather have problems that money can fix, that status can prevent, that only affect a certain type of people, problems that have a clear solution. Now we all find ourselves with a stranger, an evil of some sorts trying to attack us; for once we all have empathy for one another because there is that gleaming thought that it could be me. I read somewhere, or someone once said that “these are grim times, but now that the threat is real to everyone, we can fight it together”.

I am no expert, I am not a country leader or a CEO or a doctor, and yet I find myself scared and frightened at times. My fear is not that I will contract the virus, but that after this time I will remain the same person I was when it began. I am scared that I have too much time on my hands, and the choice to watch movies and series seems like the easiest one. I am scared that, at the end of this dark gloomy tunnel, I will not be able to say anything I have personally done to better myself. However, I have learnt to embrace this fear, because it is not always bad, it acts as my fuel throughout this time, to ensure I find ways to keep my brain fed, my soul happy and my body healthy, this article of course is one of those ways.

This article is not about Corona, it is about you! What are you doing during this time, is it beneficial to you or someone else, have you served anyone, have you learnt something, have you done anything, anything at all? This time is rare, and may probably never occur again, a time when we have time at our disposal. I am making a case for you, find time to spend with yourself. Do you know what you want your life to look like 5 years from now, do you know what your next career step is, do you know what you are passionate about, do you know what you like and do not like, do you now know what matters most to you in life, do you know you? This article is not about Corona, it is about you, the you that you would be proud to reintroduce to everyone once this ordeal is over, work on that version of you, the better version, the best version of you! 

See you on the other side where we will utter the most common words however this time they will mean much more than they usually do, “it’s been a pleasure to meet YOU!”